Woman claimed to have purchased software from Europe that can let doctors to remotely examine and talk with patients, and need more money to pay taxes and fees. But it was all a ruse. In the end she got $5.4 million from about 50 people and spent it mostly on herself and her friends, only 300K actually went to the software, and it's not even purchased.
But what's really disturbing is how she exploited her friends and victims, making them believe they just need to lie a little, she'll get the money soon. Even more, she convinced two ex-air-marshals into pretending to be still active to intimidate people into coughing up more money.
What's even more disturbing is she apparently believes she will be offered probation because of her education and career... as she somehow has degrees in electrical engineering and law...
Unfortunately, this time, the law has documented all of her lies... Like her claim that a fictitious billionaire will "lend" her 74 million, and the time she claimed to be in negotiation for the "loan", she's actually in Jamaica, celebrating one of her girlfriend's birthday. And she had been to Bora Bora and other ritz-y resorts around the world, all while claiming medical emergencies and tough negotiations to her victims, trying to squeeze even more money... Once, the victims even sent her the social security check...
And it's not just the money, but the devastation it left behind on the victims. Most of the victims had invested their life savings, and even mortgaged their homes and businesses to put in even more money for a "sure bet". Now they have lost everything, all based on lies, lies, and more lies.
Meet Keisha L Williams, who will be spending the next 15 and a half years in Federal prison. And this is her story.
a blog about Skepticism, MLM, Scams, and Critical Thinking
Showing posts with label Scam. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Scam. Show all posts
Sunday, January 20, 2019
Saturday, February 18, 2017
Two Ponzi Scammers Got Their Prison Sentences Handed Down...
Two ponzi scammers got their prison sentences handed down recently in early 2017.
Paul Burks, who was the head of the $939 million Zeek Rewards ponzi scheme with over 1 million victims around the world, got 14 years in a Federal prison, in addition to fines of $244 million in restitution (which he can't pay as he already gave up all his possessions) and 3 years probation. Given that Burks is already 70 years old and is believed to be not in the best of health, he may spend his final days in prison.
Two other top heads of the scheme, Daniel Olivarez (computer guru) and Dawn Wright-Olivares (VP of Operations and spokesperson) have been sentenced previously to lesser terms for their contributory roles in the scam that was shut down in 2012 by SEC and Secret Service. It was believed they were fined and have to give up their residence. There was no word on what happened to a restaurant Dawn allegedly operated, or what happened to her job at a different MLM company called iWowwe.
MLM Skeptic had been tracking Zeek Rewards for over a year before it was shut down and published several articles explaining how Zeek Rewards cannot be legitimate. Indeed, in the final days of their scam they tried to gag me with a "takedown request" to my content host by claiming MLMSkeptic had violated their trademark when it was quickly realized that the alleged trademarks was not even owned by them! Must be really desperate over there in their final days, as only a few weeks later when SEC and Secret Service stepped in.
In other news, co-leader of a smaller ponzi known as "The Achieve Community", Kristine Johnson, was sentenced to 21 months in Federal Prison. TAC, which is peanuts compared to Zeek, was shutdown in 2015 by SEC. It was a pretty simple Ponzi scheme that didn't bother to polish itself by hiring celebrity lawyers and experts and pretending to be legitimate. They mainly stuck to Facebook and such, by claiming "triple algorithm" that can multiply money... What utter nonsense.
MLM Skeptic had not been tracking TAC but it was identified early on by Oz of BehindMLM as a simple cycler ponzi scheme.
What do these two scams have in common? It's actually quite simple..
GREED.
Paul Burks, who was the head of the $939 million Zeek Rewards ponzi scheme with over 1 million victims around the world, got 14 years in a Federal prison, in addition to fines of $244 million in restitution (which he can't pay as he already gave up all his possessions) and 3 years probation. Given that Burks is already 70 years old and is believed to be not in the best of health, he may spend his final days in prison.
Two other top heads of the scheme, Daniel Olivarez (computer guru) and Dawn Wright-Olivares (VP of Operations and spokesperson) have been sentenced previously to lesser terms for their contributory roles in the scam that was shut down in 2012 by SEC and Secret Service. It was believed they were fined and have to give up their residence. There was no word on what happened to a restaurant Dawn allegedly operated, or what happened to her job at a different MLM company called iWowwe.
MLM Skeptic had been tracking Zeek Rewards for over a year before it was shut down and published several articles explaining how Zeek Rewards cannot be legitimate. Indeed, in the final days of their scam they tried to gag me with a "takedown request" to my content host by claiming MLMSkeptic had violated their trademark when it was quickly realized that the alleged trademarks was not even owned by them! Must be really desperate over there in their final days, as only a few weeks later when SEC and Secret Service stepped in.
In other news, co-leader of a smaller ponzi known as "The Achieve Community", Kristine Johnson, was sentenced to 21 months in Federal Prison. TAC, which is peanuts compared to Zeek, was shutdown in 2015 by SEC. It was a pretty simple Ponzi scheme that didn't bother to polish itself by hiring celebrity lawyers and experts and pretending to be legitimate. They mainly stuck to Facebook and such, by claiming "triple algorithm" that can multiply money... What utter nonsense.
MLM Skeptic had not been tracking TAC but it was identified early on by Oz of BehindMLM as a simple cycler ponzi scheme.
What do these two scams have in common? It's actually quite simple..
GREED.
Friday, May 20, 2016
Bad Argument: MLM Strawman Arguments Labelled as Mythbusting
A lot of so-called MLM "coaches" write articles to drum up business and recruit downlines, and they have to deal with, what they perceive as "undue criticism" of MLM. However, what they often ended up doing is defeat strawman arguments.
Recently I came across a certain article titled "6 Biggest Myths about MLM -- A Must Read" by Nathan Sloan posted on Network Marketing HQ dot co dot uk. (Interesting, the URL says 7, so he seem to have lost one in the edit), and it served as a prime example of how MLMers argue... broad insinuations, strawman, this guy used them all.
Pyramid SCHEMES are bad. Pyramid structure or pyramid-shaped organizations are not necessarily bad. If a MLMer, even a noob, can't explain the difference between a pyramid structure and a pyramid SCHEME, s/he is uneducated in the MLM fundamentals and his/her upline should be ashamed.
However, instead of explaining this fundamental difference, Mr. Sloan instead pointed out that pyramid structures surrounds us. Basically, he failed to identify the real problem, and instead, went to equivocation fallacy instead. Indeed, this is a common "MLM defense" tactic, present a strawman equivocation with "safe" structures.
Verdict: strawman myth
Solution: Mr. Sloan should concentrate on differentiating pyramid SCHEME vs. pyramid organization. Pyramid scheme is fraud. Pyramid organization is just a shape.
Is MLM a scam? Sloan's explanation is that pyramid schemes are illegal, MLM is not. However, instead of explaining the difference between MLM and pyramid scheme, he simply quoted an OUTDATED definition he copied from "Ultimate Guide to Network Marketing" without attribution. And yes, I have this book on my bookshelf. That's how I recognized it. It was published more than 10 years ago (2005).
For the record, MLM in its current form was created in 1979 when Amway settled with American Federal Trade Commission to institute several reforms (today known as the "Amway Safeguard Rules") in order to keep on operating. The short of it is, the difference between MLM and pyramid scheme is MLM NEVER pays on recruitment (but there are ways to disguise the payment). This is what Sloan failed to address.
However, Sloan then went on to knock down another strawman. He claimed that any one who said MLM is a scam are lying to cover up their laziness and failure. This is in clear contrast of several pyramid schemes that presented themselves as MLM that were shut down. FHTM (shut down 2013) and Vemma (shut down 2015) are just some recent examples. By ignoring a prime example where a scam MLM did operate, Sloan is guilty of lying by omission AND a strawman, not to mention victim-blaming.
Verdict: strawman fallacy, lying by omission (or ignorance), plagiarism, unsupported argument (did not explain difference between pyramid scheme and MLM)
Solution: Sloan should acknowledge that many MLMs are done fraudulently, and attempt to explain the real LEGAL differences why MLM is not a pyramid scheme. Simply quoting a definition is not defense without explaining how that applies to your defense.
Recently I came across a certain article titled "6 Biggest Myths about MLM -- A Must Read" by Nathan Sloan posted on Network Marketing HQ dot co dot uk. (Interesting, the URL says 7, so he seem to have lost one in the edit), and it served as a prime example of how MLMers argue... broad insinuations, strawman, this guy used them all.
His myth #1: Pyramid structures are bad
However, instead of explaining this fundamental difference, Mr. Sloan instead pointed out that pyramid structures surrounds us. Basically, he failed to identify the real problem, and instead, went to equivocation fallacy instead. Indeed, this is a common "MLM defense" tactic, present a strawman equivocation with "safe" structures.
Verdict: strawman myth
Solution: Mr. Sloan should concentrate on differentiating pyramid SCHEME vs. pyramid organization. Pyramid scheme is fraud. Pyramid organization is just a shape.
His myth #2: MLM is a Scam
Is MLM a scam? Sloan's explanation is that pyramid schemes are illegal, MLM is not. However, instead of explaining the difference between MLM and pyramid scheme, he simply quoted an OUTDATED definition he copied from "Ultimate Guide to Network Marketing" without attribution. And yes, I have this book on my bookshelf. That's how I recognized it. It was published more than 10 years ago (2005).
For the record, MLM in its current form was created in 1979 when Amway settled with American Federal Trade Commission to institute several reforms (today known as the "Amway Safeguard Rules") in order to keep on operating. The short of it is, the difference between MLM and pyramid scheme is MLM NEVER pays on recruitment (but there are ways to disguise the payment). This is what Sloan failed to address.
However, Sloan then went on to knock down another strawman. He claimed that any one who said MLM is a scam are lying to cover up their laziness and failure. This is in clear contrast of several pyramid schemes that presented themselves as MLM that were shut down. FHTM (shut down 2013) and Vemma (shut down 2015) are just some recent examples. By ignoring a prime example where a scam MLM did operate, Sloan is guilty of lying by omission AND a strawman, not to mention victim-blaming.
Verdict: strawman fallacy, lying by omission (or ignorance), plagiarism, unsupported argument (did not explain difference between pyramid scheme and MLM)
Solution: Sloan should acknowledge that many MLMs are done fraudulently, and attempt to explain the real LEGAL differences why MLM is not a pyramid scheme. Simply quoting a definition is not defense without explaining how that applies to your defense.
Wednesday, May 18, 2016
Another article of how WCM got smashed in China (AGAIN), translated
Previously #MLMskeptic translated the article from LegalDaily.com.cn about how WCM got smashed. This time we're translating a different article of the same event, with additional details.
http://tech.ifeng.com/a/20160514/41608055_0.shtml
2016年05月14日 08:17 14-MAY-2016 08:17来源：澎湃新闻 作者：邢丙银 Source: Pengpai News Author: Xing Bing
2015年5月，广东肇庆市公安局鼎湖分局经侦大队接群众谢某报案称：其听信嫌疑人梁某花之言，以26000元的价格购买了万通奇迹社交资本云计算平台（以下简称“万通奇迹”）套装产品。开通万通卡成为会员后申请提现，原本每天可分红32美元，但至今未收到分红款项，本金也无法退回。
In May 2015, Zhaoqing City, Dinghu Branch, Economic Investigation Unit (EIU from now on), in Guangdong province received report from citizen Xie, who claimed that he was fooled into believe a Ms. Liang and purchased several Wantong Miracle (WM from now on) Suites for 26000 RMB, received the WM card, and was supposed to receive daily profit of 32 USD, but so far received nothing, and there's no sign of his original investment.
经广东省公安厅经侦总队组织广州、深圳、肇庆三市警方同时开展行动，一起未经有关部门批准，假借投资原始股权理财、电子商务等新概念，以承诺还本付息来吸引公众投资的特大非法吸收公众存款案由此揭开。
With economic investigation unit of three cities: Guangzhou, Shenzhen, and Zhaoqing cooperating, they revealed a huge illegal securities crime, that never was approved or licensed by authorities, and uses buzzwords such as protoshare investment product, e-commerce, and so on, with promises of huge profits.
近日，深圳市公安局经侦支队向澎湃新闻透露，这起案件涉及全国28个省147个县市区5800多名投资人，涉案金额数亿元。目前该案在进一步侦办中。
Recently, Shenzhen EIU told Penpai News that this scam has victims in 28 provinces, 147 jurisdictions, and over 5800 victims, with amount of scam in the hundreds of millions of RMB. Investigation is ongoing.
轻信万通奇迹投资收益高被套牢
Belief in WM Investment Profit, Ensnared in Trap
湖南长沙的陈女士是万通奇迹的投资者之一。2013年9月，好友陈某芬告知她称，有一个叫万通的公司发布了万通奇迹系列产品，投资收益高，让她了解一下。
Ms. Chen of Changsha, Hunan province, was an investment in WM. In September 2013, a friend Chen (something) Fang told her that this Wantong (WT from now on) company released a series of WM products, promised huge profits if invested. Asked her to look into it.
随后，陈女士在网上查询了有关万通公司老总徐某的资料。“网上的徐某是天使投资人，作为投资银行的董事，曾帮助7家中国公司在国外上市。”
Later, Ms. Chen searched the boss of Wantong, a Mr. Xu online. "Xu, online, is an angel investor, CEO of an investment bank, helped 7 Chinese companies get listed in foreign exchanges."
陈女士信以为真，加入了一个万通奇迹的QQ群，看到有消息称万通公司将于2013年11月在深圳举行招商会，禁不住诱惑的她从长沙赶到深圳参会。
Ms. Chen believed all these to be true, and joined a WM related QQ Chat group, and learned of a recruiting meeting held by Wantong in Shenzhen coming in November 2013. Unable to resist, she went to Shenzhen to attend the meeting.
据其回忆，当天有几百人参会，万通公司的执行董事周某口若悬河，描绘了一番美好前景，并回答了参会人员的提问。
Based on memory, there were hundreds of people there. Wantong's executive direct, Mr. Zhou, promised the sun and the moon, described a bright future, and answered all of the questions from the attendants.
“投资13000元，每天收益近100元，收益挺高。”会后不久，陈女士即出资39000元买了三套万通奇迹WCM705（每份1999美元）产品。
"If I invest 13000, I can profit 100 per day, that's very high profit." Not long after the meet, Ms. Chen bought in with 39000 RMB and bought three of the WM suite called "WCM705", at $1999 USD each.
陈女士介绍，万通奇迹系列套餐有5种投资金额，分别为399美元、799美元、1999美元、1599美元和1999美元，金额不同每日分红也不同。如购买一套1999美元产品，每日可分红16个电子币，相当于16美元。
Ms. Chen explained that WM suite has 5 amounts: $399, $799, $999, $1599, and $1999. Daily profit is dependent on the amount invested. For the $1999 suite, daily share is 16 E-points, worth 16 USD.
购买万通奇迹产品后，陈女士还在万通公司网站注册成为会员，登陆后可浏览个人资料及账户上的电子币。最初她还能正常提现，不料没几日，提现就出了问题。
After the purchase of these suites, Ms. Chen registered in WM website, and can view her account and accumulated e-points, and even cash out at the beginning, but soon, cashing out became a problem.
“先是被拖延，后来干脆就不能提现了，2014年4月，连网站都打不开了。”陈女士遂询问好友陈某芬的上线王某波，但对方也没说出个所以然来。
"First it was delays, then later all cashing out was stopped. By April 2014, the entire website is gone." Ms. Chen asked her friend's upline, a Mr. Wang (something) Po, but he had no explanation.
2015年5月，陈女士获悉徐某在深圳新开了万怡通国际投资发展（深圳）有限公司（下称“万怡通公司”），而且还将在一五星级酒店召开投资宣传会，她又赶了过去。
In May 2015, Ms. Chen hard that Mr. Xu has established a new company in Shenzhen called WanYiTong (WYT from now on), and will do a promo event at a 5-star hotel. She went to check it out.
http://tech.ifeng.com/a/20160514/41608055_0.shtml
海归硕士开空壳公司 以“虚拟货币”连环套诈骗数亿
Master Degree Open Shell Companies, "Cryptocurrency" Scammed Hundreds of Millions
2016年05月14日 08:17 14-MAY-2016 08:17来源：澎湃新闻 作者：邢丙银 Source: Pengpai News Author: Xing Bing
2015年5月，广东肇庆市公安局鼎湖分局经侦大队接群众谢某报案称：其听信嫌疑人梁某花之言，以26000元的价格购买了万通奇迹社交资本云计算平台（以下简称“万通奇迹”）套装产品。开通万通卡成为会员后申请提现，原本每天可分红32美元，但至今未收到分红款项，本金也无法退回。
In May 2015, Zhaoqing City, Dinghu Branch, Economic Investigation Unit (EIU from now on), in Guangdong province received report from citizen Xie, who claimed that he was fooled into believe a Ms. Liang and purchased several Wantong Miracle (WM from now on) Suites for 26000 RMB, received the WM card, and was supposed to receive daily profit of 32 USD, but so far received nothing, and there's no sign of his original investment.
经广东省公安厅经侦总队组织广州、深圳、肇庆三市警方同时开展行动，一起未经有关部门批准，假借投资原始股权理财、电子商务等新概念，以承诺还本付息来吸引公众投资的特大非法吸收公众存款案由此揭开。
With economic investigation unit of three cities: Guangzhou, Shenzhen, and Zhaoqing cooperating, they revealed a huge illegal securities crime, that never was approved or licensed by authorities, and uses buzzwords such as protoshare investment product, e-commerce, and so on, with promises of huge profits.
近日，深圳市公安局经侦支队向澎湃新闻透露，这起案件涉及全国28个省147个县市区5800多名投资人，涉案金额数亿元。目前该案在进一步侦办中。
Recently, Shenzhen EIU told Penpai News that this scam has victims in 28 provinces, 147 jurisdictions, and over 5800 victims, with amount of scam in the hundreds of millions of RMB. Investigation is ongoing.
 |
| 办案民警介绍，2013年5月，万通奇迹系列融资产品由所谓某投资银行控股集团董事长徐某、CEO刘某及执行董事徐某忠、“金融学家”孙某等人策划成立。 Police investigator said in May 2013, WM series of securities was established by Mr. Xu, president of some investment bank holding group, a Mr. Liu, CEO, an executive director Mr. Xu something Zhong, and a "financial scholar" Mr. Sun |
轻信万通奇迹投资收益高被套牢
Belief in WM Investment Profit, Ensnared in Trap
湖南长沙的陈女士是万通奇迹的投资者之一。2013年9月，好友陈某芬告知她称，有一个叫万通的公司发布了万通奇迹系列产品，投资收益高，让她了解一下。
Ms. Chen of Changsha, Hunan province, was an investment in WM. In September 2013, a friend Chen (something) Fang told her that this Wantong (WT from now on) company released a series of WM products, promised huge profits if invested. Asked her to look into it.
随后，陈女士在网上查询了有关万通公司老总徐某的资料。“网上的徐某是天使投资人，作为投资银行的董事，曾帮助7家中国公司在国外上市。”
Later, Ms. Chen searched the boss of Wantong, a Mr. Xu online. "Xu, online, is an angel investor, CEO of an investment bank, helped 7 Chinese companies get listed in foreign exchanges."
陈女士信以为真，加入了一个万通奇迹的QQ群，看到有消息称万通公司将于2013年11月在深圳举行招商会，禁不住诱惑的她从长沙赶到深圳参会。
Ms. Chen believed all these to be true, and joined a WM related QQ Chat group, and learned of a recruiting meeting held by Wantong in Shenzhen coming in November 2013. Unable to resist, she went to Shenzhen to attend the meeting.
据其回忆，当天有几百人参会，万通公司的执行董事周某口若悬河，描绘了一番美好前景，并回答了参会人员的提问。
Based on memory, there were hundreds of people there. Wantong's executive direct, Mr. Zhou, promised the sun and the moon, described a bright future, and answered all of the questions from the attendants.
“投资13000元，每天收益近100元，收益挺高。”会后不久，陈女士即出资39000元买了三套万通奇迹WCM705（每份1999美元）产品。
"If I invest 13000, I can profit 100 per day, that's very high profit." Not long after the meet, Ms. Chen bought in with 39000 RMB and bought three of the WM suite called "WCM705", at $1999 USD each.
陈女士介绍，万通奇迹系列套餐有5种投资金额，分别为399美元、799美元、1999美元、1599美元和1999美元，金额不同每日分红也不同。如购买一套1999美元产品，每日可分红16个电子币，相当于16美元。
Ms. Chen explained that WM suite has 5 amounts: $399, $799, $999, $1599, and $1999. Daily profit is dependent on the amount invested. For the $1999 suite, daily share is 16 E-points, worth 16 USD.
购买万通奇迹产品后，陈女士还在万通公司网站注册成为会员，登陆后可浏览个人资料及账户上的电子币。最初她还能正常提现，不料没几日，提现就出了问题。
After the purchase of these suites, Ms. Chen registered in WM website, and can view her account and accumulated e-points, and even cash out at the beginning, but soon, cashing out became a problem.
“先是被拖延，后来干脆就不能提现了，2014年4月，连网站都打不开了。”陈女士遂询问好友陈某芬的上线王某波，但对方也没说出个所以然来。
"First it was delays, then later all cashing out was stopped. By April 2014, the entire website is gone." Ms. Chen asked her friend's upline, a Mr. Wang (something) Po, but he had no explanation.
2015年5月，陈女士获悉徐某在深圳新开了万怡通国际投资发展（深圳）有限公司（下称“万怡通公司”），而且还将在一五星级酒店召开投资宣传会，她又赶了过去。
In May 2015, Ms. Chen hard that Mr. Xu has established a new company in Shenzhen called WanYiTong (WYT from now on), and will do a promo event at a 5-star hotel. She went to check it out.
Sunday, April 17, 2016
Is it just series of bad judgment, or "once a thief, always a thief"?
Given that how many of the Ponzi pimps have been around for years, it's quite surprising that people aren't using Google enough and pick up their history.
One of the most vocal supporters of OneCoin was Thomas E. McMurrain. This is him pitching his "Welcome to OneCoin AlphaTeam"
The guy really needs better green-screening. The sun is clearly coming from the RIGHT in the photo background, but his face is lighted from the LEFT. But who said that these folks are exactly detail oriented?
But if you bothered searching his name for a bit (never mind his self-PR like "7th Disruption", a book he "wrote" to promote OneCoin) you'll find some rather... disturbing details, like how he kept picking losers... Such as... Solavei
For those who didn't keep up, Solavei closed its doors in late 2015. Which is apparently when Tommy here picked up the OneCoin banner. He apparently posted on Facebook when Vemma was closed by FTC "come join us in OneCoin", much like ambulance chasers.
So what was Tommy doing before 2015? Well, we need to count, but there's FlexKom... a scheme that went nowhere except Turkey and pushed by Ponzi-pimp Ian Driscoll, formerly of BannerBroker.
Just a few months later, it apparently did not pay Tanju Colak a Turkish ex-footballer and local celebrity, whom joined FlexKom a while back. Mr. Colak sued and FlexKom lost. A possible class action lawsuit was still undetermined as of 2014, and I can't search in Turkish to find an update, but it is said to possibly involve 40000 FlexKom members in Turkey. The business also seem to have gone quiet at the end of 2014. Definitely NOT another winner, something that sells itself, as Mr. McMurrain claimed, if it can't even sell itself on their home continent.
So what else did Mr. McMurrain involve himself in? No less than one of the widest spread Ponzi schemes in US history: ZeekRewards.
Tommy here registered a "join Zeek and make me $$$" domain in March 2012. For the record, Zeek Rewards was shut down in August 2012 by Secret Service, SEC, and other Federal agencies. Again, Tommy can't seem to pick a winner.
So what was Tommy doing even before this? TVI Express... an international pyramid scheme.
One of the most vocal supporters of OneCoin was Thomas E. McMurrain. This is him pitching his "Welcome to OneCoin AlphaTeam"
 |
| Thomas E. McMurrain, pitching his OneCoin Alpha Team |
But if you bothered searching his name for a bit (never mind his self-PR like "7th Disruption", a book he "wrote" to promote OneCoin) you'll find some rather... disturbing details, like how he kept picking losers... Such as... Solavei
 |
| Tom McMurrain touring country w/ Solavei in 2012 Solavei went belly up in 2015 |
For those who didn't keep up, Solavei closed its doors in late 2015. Which is apparently when Tommy here picked up the OneCoin banner. He apparently posted on Facebook when Vemma was closed by FTC "come join us in OneCoin", much like ambulance chasers.
So what was Tommy doing before 2015? Well, we need to count, but there's FlexKom... a scheme that went nowhere except Turkey and pushed by Ponzi-pimp Ian Driscoll, formerly of BannerBroker.
Just a few months later, it apparently did not pay Tanju Colak a Turkish ex-footballer and local celebrity, whom joined FlexKom a while back. Mr. Colak sued and FlexKom lost. A possible class action lawsuit was still undetermined as of 2014, and I can't search in Turkish to find an update, but it is said to possibly involve 40000 FlexKom members in Turkey. The business also seem to have gone quiet at the end of 2014. Definitely NOT another winner, something that sells itself, as Mr. McMurrain claimed, if it can't even sell itself on their home continent.
So what else did Mr. McMurrain involve himself in? No less than one of the widest spread Ponzi schemes in US history: ZeekRewards.
So what was Tommy doing even before this? TVI Express... an international pyramid scheme.
Monday, November 9, 2015
PSA: Victims of WCM777 and related fraud must file claim by December 24th (Deadline extended)
If you were a victim of Phil Ming Xu's ponzi scheme WCM777 and its related entities, you need to gather up your paperwork ASAP and file a claim before December 24th, 2015.
This is the URL of the receiver’s site: http://www.worldcapitalmarketreceivership.com/
This is the URL of the site to file claims: https://www.wcm777claimsprocessing.com/en/Home/Filing
Among the defendant companies, affiliated entities or receivership entities are World Capital Market, Inc.; WCM777, Inc.; WCM777 Ltd (d/b/a WCM777 Enterprises, Inc.); Kingdom Capital Market, LLC; Manna Holding Group, LLC; Manna Source International, Inc.; WCM Resources, Inc.; To Pacific, Inc.; and ToPacific, Inc.
You do not need a lawyer, but you do need to be online and have paperwork ready, and ability to use an English website and follow instructions.
Any delay in filing a claim may result in you not getting any compensation from this fraud.
UPDATE: After a motion filed by the receiver and agreement by the judge, the deadline has been extended to December 24th, 2015.
Now you have NO excuse not to file if you are a victim.
This is the URL of the receiver’s site: http://www.worldcapitalmarketreceivership.com/
This is the URL of the site to file claims: https://www.wcm777claimsprocessing.com/en/Home/Filing
Among the defendant companies, affiliated entities or receivership entities are World Capital Market, Inc.; WCM777, Inc.; WCM777 Ltd (d/b/a WCM777 Enterprises, Inc.); Kingdom Capital Market, LLC; Manna Holding Group, LLC; Manna Source International, Inc.; WCM Resources, Inc.; To Pacific, Inc.; and ToPacific, Inc.
You do not need a lawyer, but you do need to be online and have paperwork ready, and ability to use an English website and follow instructions.
Any delay in filing a claim may result in you not getting any compensation from this fraud.
UPDATE: After a motion filed by the receiver and agreement by the judge, the deadline has been extended to December 24th, 2015.
Now you have NO excuse not to file if you are a victim.
Thursday, October 15, 2015
Commentary: How MLM affects the current presidential campaigns
Those of you who had watched "Celebrity Apprentice" should recall that ACN, the MLM telephone company, was featured on the show... twice. And Donald Trump even had his own MLM, "Trump Network", which nobody hears about any more.
What you may not remember is Ben Carson previously offered testimonial that Mannatech stuff helped him in his battle with prostate cancer... since 2004.
And let's not forget how big some of these MLM businesses are... and they donated HEAVILY to Republican candidates of all levels. It's already documented that co-founder of Amway, Richard DeVos and two family members donated 25K per person to Scott Walker's campaign AND unknown amounts to Jeb Bush's campaign. When Mitt Romney ran he had support of Amway, NuSkin, and Xango, all big name MLMs.
So, what are some facts about ACN and Mannatech, and perhaps, related to Donald Trump and Ben Carson, that you don't know, but should?
Let's start with ACN and Trump
ACN / Trump
Did you know that in 2010, the average ACN Canada participant takes home about $41.00 per month? That's directly off their website: |
| "The average ACN Canada active IBO in 2010 earned approximately $500." -- ACN Canada website |
As it is 2015, and there is no update, clearly the figure had not risen (and may even have FALLEN!)
Did you know that despite ACN having sponsored Celebrity Apprentice twice, Donald Trump was quoted by Wall Street Journal of saying, "I (Trump) know nothing about the company (ACN) other than the people who run the company, I’m not familiar with what they (ACN) do or how they go about doing it, and I make that clear in my speeches."
This is also interesting considering that Trump allegedly boasted to WSJ that for a speech at an ACN event he got $2.5 million back in 2008, and pocketed another $1.3 million for 3 more recent (and presumably shorter) talks at ACN events.
Sunday, October 11, 2015
Scam Basics: Do you "Google" your upline, the company leader, and so on?
Do you Google your own name as well as those people you know? Come on, everybody does. People who go on dates google each other's name, or even the photo, just to make sure they're not being catfished.
So why aren't people Googling their MLM uplines, and businesses googling their customers, and so on?
(NOTE: Yes, I'm using "Google" as a verb, meaning "to search online, probably using Google search". You are welcome to substitute Yandex , Baidu, or whatever your favorite search engine may be. )
A few years ago I wrote about "due diligence", and the case of Janamjot Singh Sohdi and his scam, and how he managed play an investment advisor and defrauded about a thousand people out of 2.5 million dollars despite having a long rap sheet such as having investment broker license revoked, disbarred from NYSE, and so on. All of which can be easily Googled.
In the same article, I also wrote about the suspect scheme of "Phil Ming Xu" called WCM777, and how Xu was linked to the "Vantone scam" in China. WCM777 was eventually closed by SEC.
How did I found out that Xu was linked to Vantone scam in China?
I "googled" it, of course.
And it seems that's way more due diligence than most people bother to exercise, even bankers who's supposed to be following Federal "Know Your Customer" guidelines.
Have you ever heard of Daniel Filho? How about his full name: Daniel Fernandes Rojo Filho? Still no? How about his company, DFRF Enterprises (named with his initials)? Yes, it's a scam, closed by the SEC in June 2015. But what ELSE did you find out through Googling?
So why aren't people Googling their MLM uplines, and businesses googling their customers, and so on?
(NOTE: Yes, I'm using "Google" as a verb, meaning "to search online, probably using Google search". You are welcome to substitute Yandex , Baidu, or whatever your favorite search engine may be. )
A few years ago I wrote about "due diligence", and the case of Janamjot Singh Sohdi and his scam, and how he managed play an investment advisor and defrauded about a thousand people out of 2.5 million dollars despite having a long rap sheet such as having investment broker license revoked, disbarred from NYSE, and so on. All of which can be easily Googled.
In the same article, I also wrote about the suspect scheme of "Phil Ming Xu" called WCM777, and how Xu was linked to the "Vantone scam" in China. WCM777 was eventually closed by SEC.
How did I found out that Xu was linked to Vantone scam in China?
I "googled" it, of course.
And it seems that's way more due diligence than most people bother to exercise, even bankers who's supposed to be following Federal "Know Your Customer" guidelines.
Have you ever heard of Daniel Filho? How about his full name: Daniel Fernandes Rojo Filho? Still no? How about his company, DFRF Enterprises (named with his initials)? Yes, it's a scam, closed by the SEC in June 2015. But what ELSE did you find out through Googling?
Saturday, October 3, 2015
Scam Hilarity: How Gemcoin Scammer "Interprets" the American Justice System (HINT: It's VERY hilarious)
In the interest of all Gemcoin sheeple or perp, Chinese or otherwise, this post will be bilingual.
爲了大家的利益，珍寶幣是真是賤，讀者在中國或外國，以下中英雙文對比．
Recently there were a post on Sina blog (PDF linked) that claimed "there was no FBI raid" at USFIA and "SEC was just doing routine inspection". I took a look. It's hilarious. This clearly written by someone with "motivated reasoning".
最近有在新浪博客的一篇文章 (PDF) 聲稱美國富豪USFIA “沒有被FBI調查”和“美國證券交易委員會只是做例行檢查”。我親自看一看。它真的好笑。這顯然是“有動機推理”的人寫的。
Due to size constraints, I'll just explain the important parts. I don't quote out of context.
由於尺寸的限制，我選重要部份解釋。我不斷章取義。
What he wrote will be in blue.
他寫的用藍色
First, the title:
第一，文章標題
＂受联合国70周年大会邀请AFG公司副总裁等8人参加了联合国成立70周年大会＂
UN 70th anniversary celebration invited AFG VP et al 8 people to attend
Anyone can take a photo in front of the UN building. There are even shops inside the UN building. These photos of Leonard S. Johnson and two unidentified individuals can only prove they were in New York recently. It has no other value.
任何人都可以在聯合國大廈前拍照。聯合國大樓內甚至有商店。照片只可以證明Leonard S. Johnson 和兩個身份不明的人最近去過紐約。沒有其他價值．
（FBI的战士们英姿飒爽哦，这张图片被媒体刊登在报端网络，渲染AFG公司被查封。可是，去过美国AFG公司的人一眼就能看出，这显然不是美国AFG公司背景的照片，媒体用好莱坞拍电影常用的移花接木、蒙太奇手法进行创作，实在让我们见识了美国的言论自由）
Translated; FBI Warriors, so fierce, so cool! This photo was published by media, claiming AFG was closed. However, those that went to AFG can see that this is not at AFG. Media use Hollywood fast cut to create false impressions, such as freedom of press in America.
This photo is of FBI agents assisting in the Boston Marathon bombing in May 2013, when they searched Norfolk St. in Cambridge area of Great Boston. The actual title of the photo is fbi-norfolk-street-cambridge.jpg I have seen no American media use this photo with the Gemcoin story. If there is, please point me at the article. Otherwise, I must conclude that the blogger was the one who falsely inserted a photo, exactly what he's accusing "American media" of doing.
這張照片是聯邦調查局探員協助2013年5月波士頓馬拉松爆炸案，他們在搜查諾福克(Norfolk) 街在大波士頓的劍橋(Cambridge)地區。照片的實際名稱是FBI-norfolk-street-cambridge.jpg 我沒有看到任何美國媒體使用這張照片在珍寶幣故事上。如果有請指點我文章在哪。不然我必須定論這位珍寶幣博客才是插入不相干照片捏做新聞用來反指責“美國媒體”捏做新聞。（惡人先告狀）
（这张图片被媒体刊登在报端网络，渲染AFG公司被查封，但这显然不是美国AFG公司背景的照片，媒体用好莱坞拍电影常用的移花接木、蒙太奇手法进行创作，实在让我们见识了美国的言论自由。无怪乎刘因全之流可以肆无忌惮的拼接各种图片在媒体攻击AFG公司。美国报纸竟然和大陆文革中的大字报十分相似可以随便造谣惑众）
Translation: This photo was published by the media claiming AFG was closed by law. This is clearly not AFG in the background. Media use Hollywood special effects creatively and we have witnessed American freedom of press. How dare "Michael Liu" and his ilk publish all sort of photos to attack AFG. American newspapers are much like the hated paper in the Culture Revolution to spread rumors and lies.
Those of you who can use Google image search will quickly realize this is a photo of the deputies in Lee County Florida. Again, I have not seen this photo in relation with Gemcoin, and again, I have to conclude that this Gemcoin blogger is the one who inserted irrelevant photos to accuse "american Media" of making up news.
那些會用谷歌圖片搜索的會發現這是佛羅里達州李縣(Lee County) 警長部 (Sheriff's Department) 的照片。同樣，我沒有看過此照片與珍寶幣報導有關，再次我必須做結論，這位珍寶幣博客才是插入了不相干照片捏做新聞用來反指責“美國媒體”捏做新聞。（惡人先告狀）
Here comes the hilarious part!
現在才是滑稽的料到了！
爲了大家的利益，珍寶幣是真是賤，讀者在中國或外國，以下中英雙文對比．
Recently there were a post on Sina blog (PDF linked) that claimed "there was no FBI raid" at USFIA and "SEC was just doing routine inspection". I took a look. It's hilarious. This clearly written by someone with "motivated reasoning".
最近有在新浪博客的一篇文章 (PDF) 聲稱美國富豪USFIA “沒有被FBI調查”和“美國證券交易委員會只是做例行檢查”。我親自看一看。它真的好笑。這顯然是“有動機推理”的人寫的。
Due to size constraints, I'll just explain the important parts. I don't quote out of context.
由於尺寸的限制，我選重要部份解釋。我不斷章取義。
What he wrote will be in blue.
他寫的用藍色
First, the title:
第一，文章標題
＂受联合国70周年大会邀请AFG公司副总裁等8人参加了联合国成立70周年大会＂
UN 70th anniversary celebration invited AFG VP et al 8 people to attend
Anyone can take a photo in front of the UN building. There are even shops inside the UN building. These photos of Leonard S. Johnson and two unidentified individuals can only prove they were in New York recently. It has no other value.
任何人都可以在聯合國大廈前拍照。聯合國大樓內甚至有商店。照片只可以證明Leonard S. Johnson 和兩個身份不明的人最近去過紐約。沒有其他價值．
（FBI的战士们英姿飒爽哦，这张图片被媒体刊登在报端网络，渲染AFG公司被查封。可是，去过美国AFG公司的人一眼就能看出，这显然不是美国AFG公司背景的照片，媒体用好莱坞拍电影常用的移花接木、蒙太奇手法进行创作，实在让我们见识了美国的言论自由）
Translated; FBI Warriors, so fierce, so cool! This photo was published by media, claiming AFG was closed. However, those that went to AFG can see that this is not at AFG. Media use Hollywood fast cut to create false impressions, such as freedom of press in America.
This photo is of FBI agents assisting in the Boston Marathon bombing in May 2013, when they searched Norfolk St. in Cambridge area of Great Boston. The actual title of the photo is fbi-norfolk-street-cambridge.jpg I have seen no American media use this photo with the Gemcoin story. If there is, please point me at the article. Otherwise, I must conclude that the blogger was the one who falsely inserted a photo, exactly what he's accusing "American media" of doing.
這張照片是聯邦調查局探員協助2013年5月波士頓馬拉松爆炸案，他們在搜查諾福克(Norfolk) 街在大波士頓的劍橋(Cambridge)地區。照片的實際名稱是FBI-norfolk-street-cambridge.jpg 我沒有看到任何美國媒體使用這張照片在珍寶幣故事上。如果有請指點我文章在哪。不然我必須定論這位珍寶幣博客才是插入不相干照片捏做新聞用來反指責“美國媒體”捏做新聞。（惡人先告狀）
（这张图片被媒体刊登在报端网络，渲染AFG公司被查封，但这显然不是美国AFG公司背景的照片，媒体用好莱坞拍电影常用的移花接木、蒙太奇手法进行创作，实在让我们见识了美国的言论自由。无怪乎刘因全之流可以肆无忌惮的拼接各种图片在媒体攻击AFG公司。美国报纸竟然和大陆文革中的大字报十分相似可以随便造谣惑众）
Translation: This photo was published by the media claiming AFG was closed by law. This is clearly not AFG in the background. Media use Hollywood special effects creatively and we have witnessed American freedom of press. How dare "Michael Liu" and his ilk publish all sort of photos to attack AFG. American newspapers are much like the hated paper in the Culture Revolution to spread rumors and lies.
Those of you who can use Google image search will quickly realize this is a photo of the deputies in Lee County Florida. Again, I have not seen this photo in relation with Gemcoin, and again, I have to conclude that this Gemcoin blogger is the one who inserted irrelevant photos to accuse "american Media" of making up news.
那些會用谷歌圖片搜索的會發現這是佛羅里達州李縣(Lee County) 警長部 (Sheriff's Department) 的照片。同樣，我沒有看過此照片與珍寶幣報導有關，再次我必須做結論，這位珍寶幣博客才是插入了不相干照片捏做新聞用來反指責“美國媒體”捏做新聞。（惡人先告狀）
Here comes the hilarious part!
現在才是滑稽的料到了！
Sunday, February 8, 2015
Any one can be conned: 5 rules of recognizing a con
One of the most frustrating aspects of being a skeptic is the utter... "faith" a victim has in his/her ability to recognize a con, i.e. "it can't be a con... I'd know if it is a con" usually followed by "I met the owner / officer / vendors and they are sincere and smart people, and answered my questions." then even more social proof ("_____ vouched for him/her/it").
Social proof can be faked, folks. In fact, here are 5 rules of recognizing a con. I've seen the 5 rules before, but never in a single place. This may be as well a time to mention them.
Rule #1: EVERYBODY can be conned.
Sure, people who are naive are considered gullible, but the exceptionally bright are also gullible. The moment you consider yourself immune to cons, you are vulnerable. The EASIEST victims to con are the ones who considered themselves too smart and too knowledgeable to be conned. They are too proud to admit they can be conned.
Is that you, too proud to look down?
Rule #2: You will probably be conned in your area of expertise
Yes, you'll be conned in what you know. Why? Because con-men target those who "know". Your mind, being familiar with the area, automatically fill in the details, and that saved the conmen work. Furthermore, you also feel invincible in your area of knowledge, further increasing your vulnerability. The really smart people know a lot of different things and know enough to be skeptical and cautious as they can't be experts in everything. Remember, most of Bernie Madoff's victims are other money managers who thought they knew what Madoff's doing.
Will you have faith in your knowledge of the field, and thus, not ask the questions?
Social proof can be faked, folks. In fact, here are 5 rules of recognizing a con. I've seen the 5 rules before, but never in a single place. This may be as well a time to mention them.
Rule #1: EVERYBODY can be conned.
Sure, people who are naive are considered gullible, but the exceptionally bright are also gullible. The moment you consider yourself immune to cons, you are vulnerable. The EASIEST victims to con are the ones who considered themselves too smart and too knowledgeable to be conned. They are too proud to admit they can be conned.
 |
| "I'm sorry I said you were proud. Just stop!" / (c) 2012 Kevin Spear |
Is that you, too proud to look down?
Rule #2: You will probably be conned in your area of expertise
Yes, you'll be conned in what you know. Why? Because con-men target those who "know". Your mind, being familiar with the area, automatically fill in the details, and that saved the conmen work. Furthermore, you also feel invincible in your area of knowledge, further increasing your vulnerability. The really smart people know a lot of different things and know enough to be skeptical and cautious as they can't be experts in everything. Remember, most of Bernie Madoff's victims are other money managers who thought they knew what Madoff's doing.
 |
| I am an NMR expert. To save time, let's just assume that I am never wrong. (source: Zazzle.com) |
Will you have faith in your knowledge of the field, and thus, not ask the questions?
Tuesday, January 20, 2015
BREAKING NEWS: Coverup in Ghana? Bank employees claimed they've been duped to provide TelexFree loans then fired to cover up management incompetence
Nine workers of "Opportunity Savings and Loans" in Ghana are threatening to sue the S&L for wrongful dismissal. The S&L apparently started providing loans to people for purchasing TelexFree positions in December 2013. Within months, the complainers claimed, questions started to arise as rules, such as residency check, were not followed, but apparently team leaders took responsibility. Then loans were issued without issuer's knowledge (i.e. wrongly attributed loans) and never corrected. In the end, the bank lost 1.2 million GHS (roughly 362000 USD) and fired the nine workers.
Now the nine workers are alleging that they were following orders, the branch leaders knew exactly what happened, all correspondences were copied and concerns brought up and dismissed by the said leaders, who were apparently not fired. Now the company president has fired the nine instead to cover up mismanagement.
The bank president dismissed the charges and said the case had been referred to the Police and he fired the employees who broke the rules, and he has no further comment.
See SpyGhana article. http://www.spyghana.com/opportunity-savings-loans-sacks-9-workers/
Now the nine workers are alleging that they were following orders, the branch leaders knew exactly what happened, all correspondences were copied and concerns brought up and dismissed by the said leaders, who were apparently not fired. Now the company president has fired the nine instead to cover up mismanagement.
The bank president dismissed the charges and said the case had been referred to the Police and he fired the employees who broke the rules, and he has no further comment.
See SpyGhana article. http://www.spyghana.com/opportunity-savings-loans-sacks-9-workers/
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